My life with teenage boys

It’s been a quiet week on the Man-Child front. They headed off last week for five nights at a school rowing camp on the Tambo River. It coincided with the hottest week of our summer so far – just as well they were on water. No doubt the next hottest one will be when the kids get back to school next week. Isn’t that always the way?

I can’t tell you much about it – as is usual you don’t hear from them when they’re away unless you prompt them. Father of a Man-Child was pretty active with texts and probably got a bit more information out of them. He wanted to know how they were rowing, and if they were improving their times and winning. I wanted to know if they were getting sunburnt and wearing hats! Naturally we were both keen to hear all about it when they came home.

I left an Australia Day BBQ to pick them up on their return, only to drop them off home and head back to the party. So we only had a quick debrief in the car – they admitted they were stuffed and keen to get home. They said the camp was good, but hard – the healing blisters on their hands being testament to that! 5.30am starts, 3 rowing sessions a day, typical camp food. Home to their own beds and a nice home-cooked meal by Mum – what bliss I thought.

By the time we returned from our party the boys were long gone – off to catch up with mates and girlfriends. So much for tired!!! And so much for wanting a meal….probably hankering after some junk food anyway. So any good camp stories will have to wait until next week – we should get some out of them over the dinner table tonight.

Sister of a Man-Child thoroughly enjoyed the week without her brothers. It’s probably a nice treat to have Mum and Dad all to yourself. I expect the main thing she enjoyed was the quietness in the house – no arguing, no fighting, no screaming Mother, and when I bought a packet of hot cross buns they actually lasted the week and not 24 hours (you’ve got to be fast in our place normally).

So a belated Happy Australia Day to all. We had a wonderful day with friends embracing the true meaning of the public holiday and celebrating our fortune to live in the lucky country.